December Update

Dear friends and family,

The year is almost over and here in Namibia things are going good.  We are now into our summer and it is really hot!  Looking back now at another year I can't help but be humbled by what God has done.  Not only in the ways He has grown the ministry here, but how He has grown us as well.  When I look at the fact that we have been married now for 18 months, I wonder where the time has gone.  It has been a wonderful 18 months.  With everything I consider myself so blessed by Gods grace.  When I think about where I was to where I am now, I praise God for it.  It is His grace!  And I want to say here at the beginning of this update that we are so thankful to God for our supporters.  I know that as it is says in Acts 20:35 that "It is more blessed to give than to receive", but when we look at the fact that all are needs are met by those God has called to give, we feel pretty blessed.  I look forward to the day when the church here is able to support missionaries to other area's.  We also want to thank those who have faithfully prayed for us and the ministry here.  Prayer is so important!  It is God not us that establishes, sustains, and grows the church and it's ministries.  So, I guess what I am saying is that looking back at this year gets me excited about what God will do next year and the coming years.  

The woodcarvers bible study has continued to be a study that I look forward to each week.  We are still going through the Book of I Corinthians.  This week was our last study for this year.  We will start back in January when everyone gets back from holiday.  We have just finished chapter 1.  I am hoping to see Tiago take some more leadership in this study next year.

The school bible studies have been on break now for exams and holiday.  We will start those back up in January.  Please pray for more students for these bible studies for next year.

I have started to meet with Tiago and Christiaan on saturdays for our mens study where we are going through Systematic Theology by Wayn Grudem.  So far it has been going well.  We will be starting in January by going back and studying church government.  We will hopefully go through this with another local pastor as well.  So I am really looking forward to this.

We are doing a summer camp next week.  This will be a great opportunity to build some new relationships with some students we have not been working with yet.  So this will set us up for youth ministry next year.  We will continue to do bible studies at both schools and do a youth night at the MPMC on friday nights.  The camp will be from monday the 8th to thursday the 11th.  The theme is freedom.  We will be going through Romans 7:14-chapter 8.  I am looking forward to this a lot.  There is 21 students that will be coming.  Please pray for our time at this camp.  Pray that God would open doors for us to build some good lasting relationships with these students.

The wed. night study has also been stopped for the holiday.  We will start up again in January when everyone comes back.

The church continues to go well. I am preaching the the book of Acts.  So far It has been great!  I will post my last two sermons onto our blog if anyone would like to check them out.  I have had alot of good feedback from this series.  I am definatly looking forward to next year continuing this sermon series.  We will be stopping the sunday morning service on sundays since everyone will be going places for holiday.  I know this may seem strange to some there, but this is pretty typical of churches here.  The whole town of okahandja pretty much closes down.  So we will start back up with normal services on January 11th.  

Alot of my time right now has been going into the planning of this camp.  All in all things are still going well, and we are looking forward to another great year.   Thank you again to all our supporters that have been along side of us though this year.  We hope to raise some money for a house for us next year.  We are needing to move from where we are now, and we would like to get to a more stable place to live.  A house here costs to buy about $25,000USD.  So please pray for us in this.  We would appreciate your prayers or if anyone would feel led to support us with funding in this You can contact me directly.  Thank you again for all your prayers.  We have also uploaded some new pictures on our flickr site.  May God bless you all.

blog: http://buddynamibia.blogspot.com/

Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bahun_family_in_namibia/

               

           Serving Christ,

                      

                          Buddy and Julia 

Sermon on Acts 4:1-12

Acts 4:1-12

- Today we come to the account of the first persecution of the church.

- Last week we saw the miracle and sermon that led up to this.

- Read Acts 4:1-12

- First in this passage we see a fulfillment of Jesus' words.

- Matt. 10:17-20

- The disciples may not have thought much of this when Jesus said it, since there was not persecution against them yet.

- But now Jesus' words would have maybe been more real to them.

- example: premarital counciling- it is info not for as the soon to be couple is going through it, but later when that couple needs it.

- So now lets look at four aspects of this persecution that are important for us to understand.

1. The Force against the christians.
• As we read this text we can't help but be amazed at the massive group that gathered against Peter and John, and really Christianity.
• Now the church at this point was a very young church.
• There were about 3100-3200 members, which is the 120 at Pentecost plus the 3000 that were converted after Peter's first sermon. 
• This may seem very big to us, but if you compare this with the millions of jews, it's not that big.
• The church at this time also had very few leaders.
• So it is shocking to see the list Luke gives us of those gathered against them.
• In verse 1-6 there are 11 individuals or categories of individuals against them.
• We will look at each of these:
• Inverse 1 we see three of them.
1. The priests
• These were those from the line of Aaron.
• This was a powerful group of people.
• This group would include the high priest and the other priests who performed various services in the temple.
2. Captain of the temple guard
• Now Luke here was probably referring to not only the captain, but also the temple guard as well since the captain leads the guard.
• We must also understand these were not Romans, but still had a great amount of power.
• In fact apart from the Romans, the captain of the temple guard was the second most powerful man in Jerusalem.
• It went Romans(highest), The high priest(second), and the Captain of the guard.
• So Luke's mention of the captain is significant
3. Sadducees
• This was not a large group, but a powerful one.
• They were the upper class, or wealthy powerful people in Jerusalem.
• They had very close relationships with the Romans
• So we have the high priests and there families, the temple police and there captain, and the wealthiest most influential people-the sadducees against them.
• That alone is a very powerful group!
• Was that all that came against them?
• NO!
• In verse 5 we see three more.
• read vs 5
1. Rulers
• These were probably men in various positions of authority like heads of government departments
• example: Mayors, deputy ministers, ect
2. Elders
• These were the older men in Jerusalem, who would have great influence on the people.
3. Scribes
• These were those that studied, taught, and copied down the scriptures.
• So now we are up to 6 groups against these two disciples/christianity
• But there is still more that Luke records for us.  
• In verse 6 he records names of those that would fit into the first group he mentioned--the priests and there families.
• Why did Luke record these specifically?
• We may just read over this but was a good reason for it.
• example: Of Julia and I walking into a room and someone turns to another person and says," Oh, the Bahuns are here, and Buddy Bahun is here".  It would seem odd to say that unless the person who said it had something in mind.  Otherwise it would just be pointless repetition.
• When we look at the names Luke mentions it is clear.
• Annas and Caiaphas
• These were two men who met with Jesus before He went to Pilot and plotted against Him, whom Peter and John were being captured for.(John 18:12-28)
• Luke wanted us to understand that when Peter testifies to this group it was not just any priests, it was the ones that would have had a vivid memory of Jesus of Nazareth.
• And Alexander and John(not the disciple) were a part of that family as well.
• When we look at this list of people against them and how powerful they are, it makes us thin of passages like:
• Psalms 27:1-3
• Just what this passage is saying is just what is happening to Peter and John.
• All the forces of there land have camped against them.
• Example:  This would be like the president, all the ministers, the head of police, town leaders, major general,ect. coming against you.
• But as we will see, they faced it fearlessly.
• Now after seeing the giant force against them, you may ask...
2. What made these guys so upset?
• This is the second aspect we need to understand.
• vs 2 gives us two reasons.
1. Teaching the people
• This was a problem because most of this group were teachers and teaching by others was a threat to there control and authority over the people.
• example: Pastors here
• Also we must understand that this was one of the things they didn't like about Jesus.
• He had not gone through there jewish schools, yet He taught with such authority that people flocked to Him.
• They even had once sent the temple guards to arrest Him, but His teaching was so powerful that it stopped them.
• When they returned to the leaders without Jesus they asked them why they didn't bring Him.
• John 7:46 says, "The Officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man." 
• So these authorities killed Jesus, but now they have this group of men who were like Jesus and taught with authority and like Jesus had not been through there school.
• And people were listening to them!
2. The resurrection of Jesus
• They hated them for this one even more.
• Peter and others were teaching about Jesus, and the center of that teaching was that God raised him from the dead.
• And if Jesus raised from the dead it proved He was the Son of God.
• This is what they didn't want.
• This brings us to our third aspect
3. What did they use against them?
• These authorities used the only thing they had, which was there power.
• This is what we see so often in the world.
• This is all the world has.
• We see this sometimes with wealthy people.  
• They use the power of there wealth to try to control, exclude, or oppress others.
• The Government will you the courts, police, army, which is the only power they have.
• Notice what these authorities did.
1. verse 1-"came upon them"
• This phrase in the greek is much stronger than in english
• This does not give the idea of these authorities over taking them slowly.
• They didn't say, "psst....hey peter, could we talk to you when you have a second(whispering)"
• This sudden action against them was meant to try to intimidate them with a show of there power.
• Maybe they said, "Enough of this...we are the authority here."
• Then they grabbed them and took them away
2. verse 3-We also see that they put them in jail.
• This could have been meant to further express there power.
• "We will see how the will be after a night in jail"
• Sometimes it is because of the worlds intimidation that christians witness fails.
• "I can't tell people about Jesus, what if they beat me, sue me, or laugh at me?"
• The world thinks it can stop a spiritual movement by threats, ridicule, force, jail, and even death, but it can not!
• Example: churches in China and India
• These authorities were trying to stamp out christianity in this way.
• But they would never succeed!
• You may ask, " Why? It seems like they have power to do whatever they want."
• The truth is, They can do things to the disciples and us, but it is not the disciples or us that works in the hearts and minds of people to advance the kingdom-that is the work of the Holy Spirit.
• And no power can stamp out that!
• So we have seen who, why, and with what did the first persecution against the church happen.
• You may ask,"But how did Peter and John respond?"
4. Peters Testimony(vs8-12)
• These may have had alot of earthly power, but Peter and others had a greater power on there side-The Holy Spirit.
1. vs8- We see that Peter here was "filled with the Holy Spirit"
• When we studied Pentecost we talked about how every time someone is filled with the Holy Spirit the result is bold passionate testifying of Jesus.
• Thats how we know if we are filled with the Holy Spirit
2. vs9-10-Peter here gives a formal reply
• He directly addresses there question we see in verse 7
• read vs 7
• he says doing good is no crime, but if you want to know by what power or name this lame man was healed-it is Jesus of Nazareth
• Now in your bibles you will find a comma at that point(vs 10-comma after Jesus of Nazareth)
• This is important because at that point Peter could have stopped and it would have answered there question perfectly.
• But Peter was not simply just trying to defend himself.
• He wanted to use this opportunity to witness about Jesus
• Peter wasn't intimidated-he was the servant of the living God, and he had the greatest message in the world.
• He looks at his audience of the leaders and does not miss the opportunity-he told them about Jesus
• This was a group of the most powerful people
• What an amazing opportunity!
• Peter makes 4 points in his message to this crowd.
1. They were guilty in crucifying Jesus
• in verse 10 Peter says," whom you crucified"
• Peter started by reminding them of the fact that they were guilty
• again this shows how fearless and courageous he was.
2. Jesus rose from the dead(vs10)
• The resurrection of Jesus proves the essentials of christianity
• It proves that Jesus is God, that He is the Savior, that death is not the end for anyone, and that there is a resurrection
• Also Peter says that it was the God they claim to serve is the one that did it.
• They killed His Son!
3. Gods purpose was done in spite of there opposition
• in vs11 Peter quotes a passage from Ps 118:22, but he makes it more applicable.
• Psalms 118:22 says,"The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone"
• read vs 11 again
• he says,"The stone you builders rejected"
• Peter was trying to to convince them that they were guilty, that they were the builders that rejected Jesus
• He was telling them that even with there opposition, God still accomplished His will.
4. Jesus is the one and only way of salvation
• read vs 12\
• Oh how the world hates this statement
• People hate to hear that they can not choose there own way to heaven
• You might say..
• Thats sounds so narrow...
• yes!
• That sounds so exclusive...
• yes!
• That sounds intolerant...
• yes!
• Why?...It is the truth!(John 14:6)
• Peter made this point because he wanted them to understand that not only was the lame man healed in Jesus' name, but it is the name by which everyone is healed.
• Peter was trying to help them understand that what needs to happen to them is what happened to the lame man.
• Conclusion:
• You as well need to be saved by Jesus
• In your sin you are as helpless as the lame man
• You can't do anything to save yourself
• You need to admit that you are helplessly in sin and put your faith in Jesus, the only Savior!

Sermon on Acts 3

Acts 3:1-26

Intro

-Last week we learned about how the early church functioned...

-we saw how the church fellowship was like.

-Acts 2:43 says "Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles."

-Now Luke there did not tell us what those miracles were.

-Today we will see one of those miracles described. And we will see the second sermon of Peters.

-You may ask "with all the miracles that were done through the apostles, why did Luke record this one?

-We can see two reasons:

1) It was on this occasion that we see Peters second sermon.

2) Because the miracle and sermon was the cause for the first persecution of the church.

Read Acts 3:1-10(explained as read)

-vs1--Peter and John went to the temple for the time of prayer.  

-vs2--They meet a man who had not been able to walk his entire life.

-vs4--Peter and John went up to this man and said "Look at us"

     -This would have been exactly what this man wanted.

     -What do I mean?

 -I can imagine this man much like the men and women begging on our streets here.

 -They sit day after day hoping for something that will help them.

 -Most people who pass and do not want to help-usually walk by pretending not to see them.

 -this is probably what most people did.

 -So when peter says "Look at us", the man would have naturally raised his eyes expecting to receive some money.

-vs6a--Now peter says, "I have no money"

-Can you imagine the lame mans head drop from his expectation and excitement shattered.

-Some of you may say," What do mean he had no money?  He was a minister of God!"

-Shouldn't he have walked up in a bright white tunic and jewel studded sandals?

-example: TBN Preacher

-Peter was not after money!  In fact he was obeying what Jesus had showed him to do.

-Read Matt 10:8-10

-vs6b--Peter then gave this man something better than Gold or Silver.

-Not that Peter gave as we will see but that God gave.

-vs7--Notice the wonderful detail of doctor Luke's description of this man being healed.

-vs8--This man went wild!  But a good wild...It says he went "walking, leaping, and praising God"

-vs10--Now the people had seen this man many times at the beautiful gate begging.

-Alot of them would have bee like those that pretended not to see him , but had.

-So when they saw him leaping the result naturally was wonder and amazement.

-This is one of the purposes of this miracle-to arouse the wonder and awe of the people present.

-A miracle can really gather a crowd.

-The second purpose of a miracle is a sign pointing towards Jesus.

-We see this purpose fulfilled in this next section of Peter's sermon.

Read Acts 3:11-26 

-Peter's main point in this sermon was to point people towards Jesus.

-vs11-12--This miracle did not happen to show how great peter and John were.

-They didn't do it...God did it!

-After peter corrects this error of who should receive the glory, he begins his sermon.

-There are four things that peter wanted his listeners to know.

1. He wanted to point them to Jesus Christ as Savior.
• In his first sermon we saw how it was Christ centered.
• This is the same here
• He didn't focus on the miracle.
• He didn't focus on the man who was healed
• He focused on Jesus!
• Also in this sermon Peter does not quote many texts and explain them one by one like his first sermon, although he does quote scripture at the end.
• Although he does not quote as many texts it does not mean his sermon was not biblical
• His sermon was still very biblical!
• Peters use of the word "servant"(greek: pais #3816, also translated "Son") in verse 13 is important.
• Although this may not seem that important to us, it would have given a very vivid picture to his jewish listeners.
• Peter here is linking Jesus to a passage in the Old Testament
• Is 52:13-53:12-The sin-bearing Servant
• We won't read this whole text, but lets look at a few verses.--53:5,11-12
• Peter was teaching them that Jesus was the Messiah of the Old Testament.
• He also taught Jesus correctly as both Jesus the Man(vs6)--"Jesus of Nazareth", and Jesus the Son of God(vs14-15)
• Christianity is all about Jesus!
• To be a Christian you must have a relationship with the biblical Jesus we see here in Peter's sermon
2. He confronted them with there sin.
• In Peter's first sermon he did speak of sin, but not as directly as this one.
• He gives this point more emphasis in this one.
• vs 13-15-read
• Once again Peter here is being fearless.
• He is in the City with the people who cried out "Crucify Him, Crucify Him!" to Jesus.
• And now Peter is saying.."You killed Jesus...it was you!"
• If I was to say to a jewish person today that is was the Jewish leaders that handed Jesus over to pilot to be killed..they would fight me!
• This is a very sensitive issue now like it would have been then.
• Probably a little worse then.
• Could you imagine during that time to go up to someone and saying," I heard that there were these jews that handed over Jesus to Pilot and others cried out Crucify Him"  Then the other replying" Yeah that was me"...wow!
• The truth is- we are all guilty of Jesus' death!
• You may say, "What?!  I didn't kill Jesus! I was not there!"
• But the truth is this, that even though you were not there, it was our sins that took Him to the Cross.
• If there was no sin He never would have needed to die on the Cross.
3. He appeals for repentance.
• Peter was not simply wanting to condemn those there for there sin, but he wanted then to repent of there sin and believe in Jesus.
• vs17 peter says, "Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers."
• This is sometimes a verse we may read past, but it is important.
• He starts by calling them brothers.
• He didn't treat them as enemies but as brothers.
• Peter earlier in vs14 said "you denied" Jesus
• Peter knew all to well there sin in this way, after all he had denied Jesus 3 times.
• Notice that he said, "Yet now, brethren, I know..."(vs17)
• Peter was not simply trying to make them feel sorry for what they did...he wanted them to repent as he himself had repented.
• vs 19 says" Repent therefore and be Converted.."
• The word in the greek for converted(#1994 epistrepho) gives the idea of us fleeing to God
• This helps us to understand what true repentance is like.
• It is not simply being sorry for a sin.
• True repentance is feeling sorry enough that we quit, and to quit means turning away from sin and turning to Jesus.
4. He gives reasons to repent and believe.
•                 -      Peter now concludes his sermon with reasons why we should respond with repentance.

1. The first reason he gives we find in vs 19,"...that your sins may be blotted out,"
• So that you would be forgiven!
• Forgiveness is what people need!
• And the only place you can find true forgiveness is in Christ.
• Many people today carry a great burden of guilt from there lives.
• Maybe this is true of some of you here today
• Maybe there is things you have done in your past that you carry so much guilt for
• You feel like you can't share it with anyone because they may judge or reject you.
• This is what we learn from the World.
• The world can not forgive your sin, it can only judge you for it or pretend to overlook it.
• But there is hope...God can forgive you!
• This is what Peter was saying.
• That only God can forgive our sins and lift the great load of guilt.
• This is a great reason to repent and believe in Jesus as Savior today.
2. The second reason is "so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord"(vs19)
• There are many times in our Christian life that we feel stale or dry.
• These time can be brought on by many different things-bad weather, bad health, sin, ect.
• So what Peter is giving as a reason is that in Christ these times don't last forever, but that there will be times of refreshing.
• These times are great!  They are times when your passion is like a fire in your chest.
• It is in those times you find it easy to say,"It is good to be a Christian!"
• If you want these times of refreshing then repent and turn away from sin and follow close to Jesus.
3. We see the final reason in vs 26.
• After Peter shows that all that happened to Jesus was fulfilling the prophesies in Deut. 18:15,18,19 and Gen. 22:18, he says vs 26
• vs 26-read
• What does Peter mean by " To you first.."
• Who?
• To the Jews?  Yes that is true, but it is deeper than that.
• Peter was preaching to those who were apart of  Jesus' death.
• The message of the gospel came to those that cried out for Jesus to be crucified.
• It was like God saying," I know what you have done, and I love you anyways, for it was for people like you that Jesus died."
• Regardless of what you have done in your past or the guilt you carry, God proclaims His Son to you.
• And the reason the gospel is proclaimed to you today is because it was for you that Jesus died.
• For you and me!
• 
  
• -So, Repent and believe in Jesus Christ today